Thursday, 28 June 2012

A real great batch of retro mixes on the mixtape recently, so the times right to get us bang up to date with another Sessions mix.

Big names on this mix include the return of cover star Kenny Lattimore who has a new LP coming out shortly; The new single from Mixtape favourite Dwele and "What Profit"; A great remix of a Jazzanova tune; Plus new "Supergroup" Cocaine 80's with "Take my Keys".

Talking of the 80's, theres a great retro vibe to a number of tunes here including new group Confection who give us an 80's styled mid-tempo ala Juicy with "Happysad"; Esther Dean channels that Paisley Park sound with the raunchy "Baby Making Love"; and DJ Kermit and the great Frank McComb gives us some funk (That would sit nicely on one of Grizz's New Funk mixes) with "Funky 8 Ball".

As usual, theres much more on here to check out, so please do and support those new artists providing us with "proper" music!

Grizz returns Monday, I think ill give you another one of these next week. Spoiling you all.

Monday, 25 June 2012

Morning mixtapers especially all the fellow blurry eyed England fans recovering from another defeat last night. Have some good old soul music to cheer you up.... here's 60's Soul volume 15!

10 more nuggets from way way back. Starts off with an early track from 70's songwriter/producer & Philly soul legend (and our cover artist) Bunny Sigler, Aretha does her thing, a nice tune from ex-Mrs Mohammed Ali Sonji Clay, and finshed off with with some classy vocals from Albet Jones plus more.

SoulNRnB takes up the end of week slack and I'll see you soon with a one off mix!

Thursday, 21 June 2012

So Grizz gives you an absolutely corking Donald Byrd mix this week, and I wanna give you a mix by a well known band who you may overlook as "the band that did ABC" or "Michael Jackson's group".

The Jacksons have produced some absolute soul classics in their day. I could go into the bands history, but that has been sorted through over and over again through the years.

So ill just give my opinion:

1) Michael Jacksons voice never sounded better than on these tunes.
2) Some soul masters worked on these tracks including Gamble & Huff, the Motown production line, Stevie Wonder and more.
3) Unlike most "boy bands" today, these guys could all sing, play instruments and write a tune.
4) Hearing "Buttercup" on this mix makes me wish Motown would release the work Michael and the guys did with Stevie Wonder in its entirety.

Take a listen t this mix and see what I mean. It includes some rare versions (including a mix of mine), as well as a lot of Soul.

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Baton accepted from Mr SoulNRnB and a big treat for all rare groove, jazz funk and sampling fans this morning- a mix dedicated to Donald Byrd. A highly respected bebop jazz trumpeter in the 50's and 60's he pioneered the 'jazz-funk' sound in the 70's, teaming up with, big favorites on this blog, the Mizzell brothers.

10 corking tunes, this mix was about what to leave out as opposed to what to put in, the catalogue of Byrd tunes so choc full of nuggets. Includes tracks like Places and Spaces, Think Twice, Wind Parade - and 7 more Jazz Funk/Fusion classics.

Thursday, 14 June 2012

Well, even if I say so myself, your in for a treat. This Street Sounds mix is one of my fave's of recent times due to the absolute quality of the tunes on here.

Examples? The opening Freddie Joachim tune featuring Carlitta Durans is on fire as is the Anthony Valadez tune that follows it from his current JUST VISITING release. Then you got big names actually delivering decent tunes. Angie Stone, an all time favorite who let me down with her last release, goes back to her "Black Diamond" style. R Kelly forgets the bitches, hoes, pimps, MOR Ballads and what-not's to go stepping. Teri Tobin gives us something soulful from her forthcoming LP. And then there's the return of Lenny Williams. If Bobby Womack can do it, why cant he!

And over and above, we have those new artists who are looking for exposure and are producing quality soulful music, like The People, Sweatson Klank and the Endangered.

Download, enjoy and support. Olympics coming to the UK, so im gonna pass the baton to Grizz on Monday and see if he can deliver something special for you too. (See what I did there?)

Monday, 11 June 2012

Morning mixtapers! Well if you like your soul old and high quality its been a corking couple of weeks on the blog for you and I keep to the script with Niceness 37. Choc full of those stonkingly good 70's n 80's rare grooves, soul steppers and old school boogie tunes youv'e come to expect from us.

10 tunes including The Fantastics, Curtis' own Curtom labels Linda Clifford, The Electrifying Cashmeres cover Jnr Walker, a collectors sought after cut from Sugarhill (no relation to the 'Gang'), and finishing with some quality from the UKs own Real Thing who are on the bill at a festival at my local London park in September!

For those wanting their new music fix, SoulNRnB up soon... I'll catch you next week with more back in the day Soul.

The Fantastics- Where there’s a will there’s a wayWindy City- Something’s missingExperience Unlimited- Peace gone awaySteptones- Your love is like the rising sunLinda Clifford- Build a fireNew world generation- Curious soulElectrifying Cashmeres- What does it takeTommy McGee- We ought to be togetherSugarhill- That’s loveThe Real Thing- The story of my life

Thursday, 7 June 2012

Number 2 in my gems series, thanks for making number 1 such a success. There will definately be more of these!

So, back to the 70's this time. Real instruments, soulful arrangements, and bloody great melodies. This is one of my favorite mixes Ive done in a while and I hope you think the same. I love all these tunes, tried to stay away from the obvious, and selected for the quality!

Its hard to pick the pick of the bunch (they are all great tunes!), but here are a few name checks; Dionne Warwicks great version of "Move me no mountain"; Starship Orchestra channels Rotary Connection with "Yesterday"; Lonette Mckee pre dates 4Hero with a tune that sounds like it just came offa their PLAY WITH THE CHANGES LP, the classic "Maybe there's a reason"; Plus the best version of "Everybody loves the sunshine" ever made, by Ramp.

Seriously, so much more, all real great tunes. Download, check them out, and if you haven't heardof an artist before........explore!

More niceness from Grizz on Monday, Ill be back to the upfront tunes next week.

Monday, 4 June 2012

Welcome to Mellow Grooves 13 (lucky for some), perfect for that UK bank holiday (courtesy of Queen Liz) long weekend when its pouring with rain, as it is here in London at the moment!!

Mellow 13 is choc full of soul n jazz big guns like Billy Paul, Curtis (needs no surname), Eddie Russ covers the Emotions hit, Boz Scaggs gives an acoustic version of one of his classics, The Moments (pre Ray Goodman & Brown era) get all sexy on us and finished off with a Don Blackman produced Sylvia St James.

I'll be back with some rare groove niceness after SoulNRnB decides what to bring us later this week.